Know the competition

Do you know how well your competitors are doing - not in terms of their results but operationally? They might have better results but be a worse performer because they are bigger than you. They may be at a disadvantage in terms of their location, access to labour, materials or energy ... yet still have similar or better results. 

What we see in public figures is the 'tip of the iceberg'. We need to take a look underwater to properly judge their performance.

There may be a benchmarking club, or an employers' federation that can show us at least a little more of the iceberg.

It's definitely worth finding out what we can. . If we know, for example, that a competitor's distribution costs are lower than ours, it can motivate us to address ours systematically and seriously, 

Knowledge is rarely value less. Take every opportunity to find out more about your competitors - even networking with them and listening to anecdotal evidence can be helpful.